Gavin Gunning said that Swindon Town were "hard to watch at times" as the struggled to a 1-1 home draw with Harrogate Town.

The game was hardly a classic as neither side was able to create many clear-cut chances, with only four shots on target between both teams across the 90 minutes.

Anthony O'Connor's header from a free-kick early in the second half seemed to have been the only moment of quality before Charlie Austin headed in the equaliser five minutes from time.

Gunning was left frustrated at how flat Swindon were after having put in a strong display in victory against Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night.

He said: “The performance was not very good. It was just flat.

“Maybe Tuesday has taken a lot out of us, the pitch was very heavy, I am not making excuses but you have got to take that into consideration.

“It was poor, the ball speed was too slow, everything was just clunky and it did not work, we were just in between all the time and we were not sure what we were supposed to be doing.

“It was hard to watch at times, to be honest, but then in the second half they scored and we came alive and started peppering the goal for the last however long it was.

“Chaz [Charlie Austin] did well, it was a great header, and there were a few more chances that he should have scored, but it wasn’t a good performance.

"I am mostly pleased that we have got to a point where we are disappointed by a draw with Harrogate at home, but it was not a good performance."

Gunning wondered whether the number of games that Swindon have played in quick succession had played into their sluggish display.

He said: "It was three games in a week, you have got to be realistic, when anyone plays three games in a week and you have players who play high numbers then it it going to be tough.

"I think that had a lot to do with it, it wasn't one of my favourite games to watch but they are not always going to be great and you are just happy that you don't lose."

That led to multiple substitutions coming early, including two at half-time, as Harry McKirdy and Ricky Aguiar were brought off for Paul Glatzel and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, changes that Gunning said were borne out of his frustration with the first-half display.

He said: "Today those subs at half time were angry subs, they came out of frustration those subs.

"It actually didn't have anything to do with Ricky, Harry [McKirdy] was always going to come off at half time to manage him, but Ricky wasn't even playing too badly.

"It was just one of those where I felt we needed to adapt and be something different.

"I probably could have brought anyone else off, to be fair, it was just unfortunate that it was Ricky, but he was getting into different pockets and he did ok."